'Dean of Valuation' Aswath Damodaran is not buying SpaceX: 'Too richly priced'

Cnbc · Jun 07, 2026 · 523 words · By Deena Zaidi

Corporate Governance Investment Risk Financial Valuation

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New York University finance professor Aswath Damodaran understands why some people are getting ready to pay up for SpaceX, but he says "it is too richly priced for my tastes." Damodaran shared his valuation analysis in his blog as Elon Musk 's company…

Claims checked 9

Techniques found 1

Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left10%

Center80%

Right10%

10 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

While SpaceX is targeting a $135 price , which puts its value at $1.77 trillion, Damodaran's assessment values the company at between $1.25 trillion and $1.35 trillion.

Common ground

While some call that lofty valuation hype , others are looking at the numbers.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Corporate Governance story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that SpaceX plans to debut at the Nasdaq on June 12?
How does this story connect Corporate Governance with Investment Risk over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/07/dean-of-valuation-aswath-damodaran-is-not-buying…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 9 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 6

verified Verified By Reference 2

info Single Source 1

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Claim 1: “SpaceX plans to debut at the Nasdaq on June 12”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia explicitly states that the initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX occurred on June 12, 2026.

verified

Claim 2: “New York University finance professor Aswath Damodaran”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and the NYU Stern official home page both explicitly state that Aswath Damodaran is a Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Damodaran is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: Aswath Damodaran, Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University Damodaran M. Vasudevan, Dean of the Coll…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damodaran

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Aswath Damodaran (born 24 September 1957) is an Indian-American academic who currently serves as Kerschner Family Chair in Finance Education and is also Professor of Finance at Stern School of Busines…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswath_Damodaran

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Corporate finance is an area of finance that deals with the sources of funding, and the capital structure of businesses, the actions that managers take to increase the value of the firm to the shareho…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporate_finance

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “Starlink carried the company in 2025”

CORROBORATED

Evidence from Stake and other web results indicates that SpaceX's 2025 revenue of $18.67B was driven by continued growth in Starlink and launch services.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Space Exploration Technologies Corp., doing business as SpaceX, is an American spaceflight, telecommunications, and artificial intelligence company headquartered at the Starbase development site in St…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Starshield is a division of SpaceX's Starlink subsidiary creating purpose-built low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellites designed to provide new military space capabilities to U.S. and allied governments. Sta…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Starshield

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Starlink Services, LLC is a telecommunications subsidiary of the American spaceflight company SpaceX, providing broadband Internet service in approximately 160 countries and territories. It also aims …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink

+ 3 more evidence sources

info

Claim 4: “Uber , which lost more than 50% of its market cap in the year after its debut”

SINGLE SOURCE

While sources mention Uber trading below its IPO price and reporting losses, there is no specific confirmation in the provided evidence that it lost 'more than 50% of its market cap' within exactly one year. The evidence is suggestive but not explicit on the 50% market cap threshold.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A series of general strikes was coordinated on March 25, 2019 by Lyft and Uber drivers in Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco, California, United States led by rideshare advocate group Rideshare …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Lyft_and_Uber_drivers'_st…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a timeline of Uber, which offers a variety of transportation and logistics services and is an early example of the rise of the sharing economy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Uber

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Fran…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uber

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “SpaceX has three primary businesses: space (rockets and launches), connectivity (Starlink) and artificial intelligence (xAI)”

CORROBORATED

Web search results from multiple sources (Long Finance and others) identify SpaceX's primary segments as Launch (space), Connectivity (Starlink), and AI (xAI/SpaceXAI).

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web search NEUTRAL — SpaceX invites the same discipline. Starlink is the recurring-revenue subscription base. xAI and orbital data centres are the speculative infrastructure segment, and tough to value.
https://www.longfinance.net/news/pamphleteers/in-space-no-on…

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web search NEUTRAL — SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches advanced rockets and spacecraft. The company was founded in 2002 to revolutionize space technology, with the ultimate goal of enabling people to live on other…
https://www.spacex.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — SpaceX reports three real, revenue-generating segments: Launch, Connectivity (Starlink), and AI (SpaceXAI, formerly xAI).
https://stansberryresearch.com/whitney-tilsons-daily/the-bea…

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Claim 6: “Damodaran's assessment values the company at between $1.25 trillion and $1.35 trillion”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web search results confirm that Aswath Damodaran valued SpaceX between $1.25 trillion and $1.35 trillion, stating the IPO price was too rich.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The initial public offering (IPO) of SpaceX, an American aerospace and artificial intelligence company founded by Elon Musk in 2002, occurred on June 12, 2026. It was the largest ever IPO, at a valuat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Initial_public_offering_of_Spa…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Real options valuation, also often termed real options analysis, (ROV or ROA) applies option valuation techniques to capital budgeting decisions. A real option itself, is the right—but not the obligat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_options_valuation

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 7: “it was already valued at $1.2 trillion a few months ago as a private company”

CORROBORATED

A web search result specifically from Aswath Damodaran's update on June 4, 2026, mentions an estimated value of $1.2 trillion for the enterprise prior to the IPO.

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 12, 2026 ... The stock closed at around $161, valuing the company at $2.1 trillion, and kept rallying in extended trading adding about another $100 billion ...
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/12/spacex-ipo-spcx-live-updates…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 4, 2026 ... With these inputs in place, I estimated a value of $1.2 trillion the SpaceX enterprise, and since I ignored cash and debt, this yielded an ...
https://aswathdamodaran.substack.com/p/revisiting-the-spacex…

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web search NEUTRAL — Jun 28, 2026 ... The company will sell shares at $135 each, valuing SpaceX at $1.77 trillion and positioning Musk to become the world's first trillionaire. This ...
https://www.facebook.com/ScienceNaturePage/posts/spacex-shar…

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Claim 8: “SpaceX is targeting a $135 price , which puts its value at $1.77 trillion”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including Wikipedia and web search results, confirm the SpaceX IPO occurred on June 12, 2026, with a valuation of $1.77 trillion and a price of $135 per share.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Elon Musk is the wealthiest person in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$913 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index and $917 billion according to Forbes, as of July 10, 2026, …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_of_Elon_Musk

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 9: “Facebook , a stock that was sold at half its offering price a few months after its IPO”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources, including Daily Mail and other news reports, confirm Facebook's stock fell to $19, which was half of its $38 IPO price, shortly after its debut.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Mark Zuckerberg has admitted Facebook's tanking share price is 'painful' to watch, as the stock fell to $19 - half its IPO price - this afternoon. The uncomfortable milestone came a day after a lock-u…
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-2190073/Mark-Zuckerbe…

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web search NEUTRAL — NEW YORK — SpaceX's slip below its initial public offering price risks turning a marquee stock-market debut into a confidence test, potentially uns...
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/world/20260716/spacexs-slide-be…

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web search NEUTRAL — Facebook stock is trading at $19 and has lost half its market value since its May public offering.Facebook's stock has struggled since the company's mid-May IPO. It closed its first day of trading bar…
https://www.syracuse.com/news/2012/08/facebook_stock_drops_t…

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.